House of the Dead
by bahamut
Summary: Sam and Dean explore a haunted castle in the Utah mountains. A find an unexpected friend.
1. Chapter 1

It was a Wednesday morning when it appeared in the middle of nowhere Utah. An enormous gothic castle with several spires straining high into the azure blue of the forested Uinta Mountains stained the alpine beauty with a blot of faded gray.

A fisherman saw it happen or rather he and his young daughter walked right into it. While some may have thought to explore the seemingly older than old castle the evil that emanated from it forced them to run as fast and as far as they could. By the time they reached their truck their lungs burned from exhaustion.

It wasn't until the fourth death that reports began tracking the two down and taking down their story.

(A Motel Somewhere in Washington)

Sam came in early holding a bag of McDonald's breakfast and in the back he could hear the soft roar of a fan and the splatter of the shower and something else-singing?

"She blinded me with science!" Dean stopped singing when he heard banging on the door.

"I got us breakfast, and maybe a job."

"Blinded me with science." He replied in his best scientist voice. It wasn't long before he was out and dressed and had an English egg and sausage McMuffin in his hand. "Ah, food of the gods!" He dug around some more until he found another treasure. "Oh yeah there it is, the hash browns."

"So check this out," Sam held open a Salt Lake Tribune. "This says a castle just appeared and there's been several mysterious deaths. A survivor says a suit of armor killed his friend with a giant sword."

"Ghosts?"

"Sounds like it." Sam said still looking at the newspaper.

"Well, to tell you the truth I'd rather be working on a haunted castle than the Leviathans. At least we can do something about that."

"Exactly what I was thinking. Then let's get going."

The two left shortly after. After a long drive they finally came to a rest on the dirt road where they would walk from there to the castle.

"Humph, a haunted castle. "Dean mumbled to Sam as he pulled out one of his shotguns and grabbed several boxes of rock salt shotgun shells. "Do think we'll find Dracula?"

"Nah," he said grabbing a knife. "But if we do I'll buy dinner."

"You've got yourself a deal, Sammy!" He said with a smile. "Looks like Red Lobster."

They turned and walked into the forest of aspens. For all the places they had been this was perhaps the creepiest, it was as if all sound was drained from the forest and each breath was blasphemously loud. Indeed, they saw no animals, no finches, and no squirrels. Had every animal left the area or had they been killed by whatever evil dwells in the palace.

Dean stopped in his tracks and stared dumbly at the enormous castle that dared them to enter. But the castle had a guardian in the form of great dying rose maze. Even from a 100 feet away they could see the ground move and small greenish yellow something (people?) dig themselves out of the parched soil and shamble about before burying themselves back into the soil.

With each step the pair came closer to the rose maze and as they did three knee high people clawed their way up to the surface and hobbled towards them. The creatures were obviously plants. Their bodies resembled frightful wooden men with terrible thorny teeth and claws. Green leaves grew on tiny limbs about its body giving it the appearance of hair.

"What are those… things?"

"I think their mandragora, Dean." Sam replied as the brothers watched the plants walk towards them.

"I thought they didn't exist?"

"Well, tell them that."

"Looks like they want to eat us." Dean said calmly.

"Yeah, probably all over the place in that maze."

"So, what? Do we just kick them?"

"I guess."

As the first of the three came near Dean took a step forward and kicked it end over end to the middle ground. "Yep." He said proudly as he turned to Sam. But then the ground shook and Dean fell to his knees and Sam collapsed on top of him. They stumbled to their feet and looked around and realized their own folly, kicking that one had awakened all of them. They turned quickly looking at all of the little creatures and realized they now stood in the midst of well over a thousand little plant creatures that screamed and hissed at them.

"You just had to kick it didn't you?"

"You told me to Sam!" Dean looked at his brother then to the mandragora. "So, run?"


	2. Chapter 2

Left, right, turn kick. The hedge maze went on forever and one of the mandragora had Sam by the leg trying to drag him into the soil below.

"Sam!" Dean ran forward crashing through the little plant men to help his brother. CRACK! He laid the thing low with a well placed hit with the butt of his gun and pulled and strained mightily to get his brother up and out of the earth. It was only when Sam was on his feet that he saw little hands clutching up at them from where Sam had been.

"Dean," Sam tugged on his arm, pulling his brother from his reverie. "We've got to get out of here!"

Another turn, then straight and huge rusted gate stood before them blocking their way to a formerly beautiful now bone-dry fountain beyond. The fountain seemed to be craved from a single enormous block of granite with a nude female angel emerging from a rose and holding a great dish on her back with her wings on either side. All along and trailing up the angel rose vines grew and tangled with each other.

Dean gave a deep tortured groan and let his head drop. "It's just so typical…"

"What?" Sam asked, looking at his brother.

"Look." Dean said pointing far beyond the fountain; the door to the castle was just beyond their grasp.

"Damn it!"

"Great, here come our friends." Dean groaned, his back to his brother.

"We haven't tried left yet, let's go!"

To the left and to the right ran a great rose covered stonewall. They ran and finally came to an ancient aspen growing against and through the wall. The granite bricks had crumbled out in a pile on both sides of the wall but hadn't left a whole wide enough to slip through.

"We'll have to climb." Sam said his eyes running up the trunk of the tree. "Dean, give me a boost."

"Right." He was right behind him, braced himself and Sam stepped into his offered hand.

Sam just barely reached the lowest branch, took hold of it and just as he began to pull himself up the branch snapped and he fell hard on his back. "Son of a bitch!"

"They're back." The plant creatures surged forward as a hungrily legion. "Sam, help me. Maybe we can push in these bricks."

They grunted and groaned against the wall, and at last the bricks began to give way. "Yes!" Sam cried grabbing his gun. "Damn it, yes!"

The pair struggled through the small space just as the mandragora reached them, each monster slowing down and slipping past the wall single file. Dean smiled grimly and flipped them off as they ran hard to the fountain and the castle door beyond.

"Mother fucker!" Dean groaned. The great oaken castle door was locked. Just as they were about to curse God and die two marble statues appeared- two knights, one missing his sword, the other his shield.

"You go right, " Sam ordered. "And I'll go left."

They split up running through the open courtyard. Sam found his first. The statue was a replica of the knight statues guarding the door, but this one had both its shield and sword.

He walked slowly, yet determinedly forward not noticing the mandragora burrowing away into the soil. Ten feet away the earth shook and dust fell from the knight as it started to move!

Sam stared in wonder, a real golem! And it was holding the key.

Dean crouched over, his hands on his knees, and he was struggling to catch his breath. Unlike Sam no little plant men followed him, it had been an easy run, but exhausting.

"I've gotta take up jogging." He said to himself.

He stood up straight and wiped his forehead. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a new creature. It looked like a tiny wingless demon hardly knee high. It wore a hooded cloak and carried a small gnarled wooden staff. The little man, smiled showing off the mouth full of sharp teeth, but unlike the little plant men the creature's all black eyes seemed friendly, harmless, and playful.

The little man gave a friendly wave. "Hello!" He said in a rough high-pitched voice.

Dean waved back, smiled, and cursed. Just as Dean finished waving green lightening shot from the creature's staff and suddenly the hunter felt much lighter.

"Aww, you've got to be kidding me!" All of his equipment was gone. The little man pulled down one eyelid, bent over, spanked his ass, and then disappeared.

"Come and find me." It said in a playful voice. Dean ran forward and came to the same wall. "Oh, you're so hot right now!"

He looked up and saw the little man waving down to him. From left to right he looked and saw a rusted ladder drilled into the side of the wall. "I'm coming for you."

The wall on this side was much wider than where they entered it was made for people to fight on. Just as he was about to reach the creature it teleported away and reappeared into the hedge maze below, and once again it smiled and waved at him.

Then something began to happen, the wall began to shake, and deep within a dark hole in the wall a golem came alive, raised its sword, and stalked toward the helpless hunter.

"Oh, you little bastard."

"Well, it's a good thing I prepared for ghosts…" Sam grumbled under his breath. "I'd hate to survive this and ruin today's streak."

All around it was nothing but grass and the stonewall beyond. Maybe there was a way to out smart it? The construct seemed to only walk- never run. Maybe he could use that to his advantage?

Sam charged forward dodged under a swing of the sword and a bash of the shield and finally got behind it. As hard as he could he hit the thing in the bend of its leg with the butt of his gun and as it crumbled to its knees he turned the gun around and shot it point blank with the rock salt.

A large chunk of rock fell from the golem's back! The good news, it worked even with the rock salt. The bad news, he had to get in close.

The golem shrugged, knocking Sam to the ground and the gun from his hands. It stood turned around raised its sword high and slammed it hard in the ground sending twigs, little stones, and dirt spraying through the air.

Sam's eyes grew big as he saw the sword come down and rolled just in time feeling the sword scrape his back. He rolled to his knees and then to his feet. Wincing as he moved as the blood soaked through his shirt.

The hunter leapt and skidded to a stop with the gun in his hands. Just as he grabbed it the construct was over him once again. Sam rolled quickly on his back raised the gun and BAM! BAM! Two shots hit the thing, one in the shoulder, and the other where its gut would be.

The golem stumbled back as rock crumbled off it. Sam got to his feet and while running reloaded his gun. Running quickly, he circled around it ran forward and put two more shots in the golem's leg and watched as it crumbled to the ground.

It was helpless now, and drug itself along the ground. The hunter stood there a moment to catch his breath. He put it out of his misery with five more shots.

At last the shield was his.

The golem walked forward and with each step the wall shook under its weight. Dean was stuck against a break in the wall and was too high to jump down.

There was no delaying the construct, it walked always forward, and it wasn't long before it reached Dean. It towered over him, raised its sword, swung, and the wall gave out taking man and golem with it in a pile of rubble.

Dean was the first to rise. Oh how his body ached. Each step, each breath was searing pain. He limped along and once again saw the little man waving at him.

He tried so hard to make his legs run, but they could not and would not. The hunter finally reached the creature and it teleported away once again and reappeared on a pile of shrub-covered rocks.

On his belly he climbed, because he could no longer stand. Blood was pouring from his nose, mouth, and the cuts and scraps that lined his body. He pulled himself to the top and this time the little man didn't teleport away he only smiled and patted the dying hunter on the head.

"Look." The creature said pointing to a stone basin with green light rising up from its depths.

Dean struggled to raise his head and finally saw what the little man was pointing to.

"Touch the light! Touch the light!" Then the little man teleported away leaving Dean alone with his equipment and the basin to explore.

He slowly pulled himself up the stone basin on will alone. Dean stood there a moment on wobbly legs swaying back and forth and then plugged his hands deep into the basin.

This was like nothing he'd felt before; it was like life energy flowing into him. Even when Cas healed him he had only healed his wounds, but this was different. Pure life filled him, broken bones mended, shattered teeth reformed and were like new, even old and new cuts and scars we gone. He felt like he just got the best night's sleep of his life. Hell, even his clothes were like new.

"Well," he said looking at the now dimmed light. "I'll be a son of a bitch. I could just kiss that little bastard." Dean turned and picked up his things. "Even showed me where the key is. Too bad it's in the hands of a walking statue of doom."

Dean came into the clearing where the golem stood. The thing had lost its left arm and shoulder in the fall and huge portions of its head and back was missing. He smiled, the construct had fallen first and was buried under the stone blocks now it was mostly defeated and struggled to stay balanced when it walked.

It took one step, two, and a third. It tried for a forth, then wobbled and crumbled into a pile on its belly. It was dead and the stone sword laid flat on the ground. Dean looked at the construct's ruin, smiled and said to himself. "Hmm, not just kiss I'm going to give that little guy a full on blowjob for that."

Sam had already placed the shield in the knight's offered hand by the time Dean arrived. He was chewing on a stick of gum and walked up without a word and slipped the sword into the knight's hand and heard a click.

They both looked at the door and it was Sam who gave the first tentative tug. The door was heavy but slid with a loud squeak and a groan under Sam's pull.

The pair took the first steps inside and the door slammed shut behind them. They looked at each other and Dean shook his head. "I can't believe how much trouble this has been and we've just started. Almost makes me wish we were fighting the leviathans again."

As he finished talking Sam slowly faded away and then disappeared all together. Dean's troubles were just beginning.


	3. Chapter 3

The interior of the castle was as warm and inviting as it was outside. A few burning sconces meagerly lit the chamber sending threatening shadows dancing all along the floors and walls. Aside from the dust and the odd spider web a leak in the wall sent small drips down a black slick of stinking mildew, other than that the castle's entirety reeked of dry rot… and normal rot.

The foyer was laid out in a shape like a cross and a diamond combined. Four doors exited the room. Other than the front door and the one directly in front of him, were two on each side of the diamond cross. Dean walked slowly, his handgun at the ready, his eyes scanning slowly from left to right.

He came to a stop near the mid section of the room, and lowered his gun to his side. The floor was strewn with old bones, a few swords, and a couple battered shields, as far as other hunters got it seemed. The room was empty and safe, but the door ahead of him was locked, as was the one to his right, both locked behind thick rusted iron portcullises.

He made it to his fifth step before the bones, shields, and swords began to bounce like balls on a trampoline. His gun shot up to eye level and he circled in place as the bones came together about him- a guard of grinning skeletons.

Each skeleton held their rusted iron swords high ready to strike, and each braced behind a battered bronze shield. The creaking of bones echoed in the room as they slowly advanced on their prey.

Pop! Pop! Dean fired two quick shots and smiled as the skeleton's skull fell from its body. His elation was short lived, the head bounced once, twice, and a third time before it found its way back to its neck- it was whole once again.

"Damn it!" He ran sprinted really, toward the only door not locked, even the front door was locked behind a portcullis. The oaken door pulled open easily and he ran in and slammed it behind him.

The hall before him was a paradox. Somehow it circled back around to the door on the right without crossing the hall that should connect to the door at the top of the cross. This hall was completely bare. The walls and ceiling had crumbled away revealing the building's frame. The wood of the flooring had long ago buckled, warped, and cracked.

He ran toward the door and found a rusted lever just before the door and gave it a tug. It squeaked loudly in protest and Dean grunted and groaned as he pulled it. Even with both hands and all his weight leaning back into the pull he could just barely move the lever. As it came to a rest and could move no further, he could hear the portcullis on the other side of the door raise with a groan.

The hunter pulled the door open and the skeletons were there to meet him. A sword arced down at him and sent sparks spraying as its tip scraped the wall. Dean rolled just in time to miss the sword and felt the sword run a crossed his shoulder.

He came to his knees and pulled himself up to a run and found a lever had appeared by the door directly ahead of the locked front door. This lever was no easier to pull than the other but the adrenaline that raced through his veins gave him strength. The lever gave way and broke sending Dean falling back to the ground and looking up at a skeleton staring down at him.

Portcullis rose as the skeleton stabbed downward hoping to run Dean through and pin him to the floor. The hunter's eyes grew big as he saw the sword tip race toward him.

Just as he thought he was done the skeletons creaked, rumbled, and fell into a pile its sword clattering harmlessly on top of his chest. He lay there a moment staring up at the ceiling. He was dead and a ghost haunting the castle, right? Surely that's it. He died and he was a ghost.

Slowly he rolled over and looked down- no body. "I'm… alive? But how?" Then he saw the door by the lever- its portcullis had raised.

This hall to was a paradox, for it also didn't meet with the other hall, as it should. Instead it ran straight 40 or so feet and lead to another door to the left side and beyond that it opened up into another large room with a staircase leading up to a balcony and a door beyond.

He walked slowly, opened the door on the left side shut it and closed his eyes, tried to catch his breath and calm himself. He should have kept his eyes closed.

The room he entered had shelves that lined the walls, ancient teddy bears and porcelain dolls the expensive one with human hair (and clearly possessed by the devil) stared down at him. Toys, games, and puzzles lie scattered a crossed the floor but worst of all was the little girl who sat cross-legged, brushing the hair of one of her dolls.

The little girl was beautiful, like a child model. She wore light faded blue jeans, and pink canvas tennis shows with purple shoelaces. Her white short sleeve shirt said "love" in big red letters and had a cartoon cupid holding a large red heart. The little girl innocence ended there, the rest of her showed she was something considerably more or less than human.

Her skin was deathly pale and she wore her raven black hair straight and just passed her shoulders. But was it that, her long sharp k 9 fangs, or possibly her lustrous glittering red eyes that most obviously gave her nature away as a creature of the castle?

She smiled and put the doll on her lap. "Oh," The little girl looked Dean up and down. "Did you come to play with me? Ever since those mean old skeletons moved in down there no one's come to play with me."

***Author's Note***** **Some of you may be wondering what that little guy was, the one who stole Dean's stuff and lead him to the "life font". He's a chupacabra. In the game they steal your stuff, and make fun of you if you can't find them. They tell you "hot" and "cold" so you can find them because sometimes they blend in with the scenery. You can stop them from teleporting by sending a fairy at them or chase them to their last spot. Either way you get your stuff back. They aren't bad guys and you don't fight them but they tend to lead you into dangerous places like an area full of trolls. Personally, I think they are cute so I put one in. Also in "Lords of Shadow" you refill your life with the green fonts.


	4. Chapter 4

She waited a moment; her smile slowly began to fade. "You came to play with me, right." This time it wasn't a question, it was a statement and it was deadly.

The hunter stared at the little girl, for the first time he wished he were in a room full of creepy redrum kids. "Uh, yeah. Of course, you know me I'm Mr. Giggles."

"Oh goodie!" She smiled and clapped happily. "Let's play chess, I love chess." 

His body grew warm, his face flushed, if those skeletons were that tough what about her? "Hmm, I ah… don't exactly know how to play chess…" Her face darkened and the room seemed to darken with her, he quickly added, "Do you want to play checkers? Checkers is fun, right?" He said laughing nervously.

She waved her hand downward, turned and dug through her things. "Oh, yes, I have checkers. I don't usually play checkers though. Ah, here it is." Placing the board before her, the young vampire slowly started to arrange the pieces on the board. Then looking up and finding Dean still standing, she gave a gentle smile and went back to setting up the game as she spoke. "Sit, sit. This will be fun. I'll be red." The girl gave him a threatening almost hungry look. "I always liked the color red."

"Well," he said, deflecting the taunt. "If you get to choose the color, then I get to go first."

"I win again." Laura said confidently several games later.

The hunter sat there cross-legged, resting his head in his palm. When he spoke he muttered so quietly Laura had to strain her ears to hear it. "I know you did…" Then he looked at her, his face flushed red with anger and when he yelled at her it seemed to echo through the room mockingly. "That's what happens when you never move your back row!"

Her eyes grew big and she pulled back in a start, no human has ever yelled at her before. "You know what?" Dean continued his rant. "Just kill me, I'm done."

The little vampire didn't know whether to laugh or kill him for his presumption. But really all she wanted was some company. "No, don't go." She tugged on his hand as he turned to leave. "What if we play tic-tac-toe? Let's play that, okay? Please."

He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "Fine, get some paper." _The things I do for children._ The hunter thought to himself. _I ought to be sainted for this._

"Tic-tac-toe, I win." Laura said, holding the paper in her hands.

"Son of a bitch!" The hunter pulled the paper from her hands laying curses and cuss words that haven't even been invented until this moment. Angrily he tore the paper into pieces and those pieces into pieces. Then finally he gathered them into a pile took out his lighter and lit the offending pile of paper on fire, cussing the whole time.

Laura couldn't help but laugh. She laughed even harder when the hunter fell to his knees then onto his back and lay there gasping for breath. She was a poor loser; she had sent her dolls to kill people who beat her in her games. But never had she seen someone attack a piece of paper like it was the cause of all life's problems.

He amused her; maybe he could be her pet human. Vampires have had pet humans before; they keep them like a human keeps a dog usually for some form of work. Strangely the humans have taken to calling it slavery, but being a vampire's pet beats being a vampire's dinner doesn't it? Laura thought so.

Looking over at him, she smiled. "You're funny. Perhaps, you've been smoking opium?" 

He sighed and then sighed again. "Well, I'm so happy I could entertain you." He said flatly.

Sitting up slowly, Dean sat with his head bowed. "So… why are the things in here so strong anyways? I can only imagine you're some kind of something."

"'Some kind of something'?" She replied teasing him. "The beings in here are so powerful because they are the original creature. Eve's creatures are nothing more than counterfeits of us."

"Counterfeits?"

"Yes, all of her creatures." Laura continued while she put her checkerboard away. "When she came the first time, she found dragons, ghouls, goblins, chupacabras, gremlins, giants, vampires, werewolves, and the undead. Her first attempts at 'monster' creation failed, so she copied everything that already was here. However, hers were neither as supernaturally gifted or as perfect as we are."

"What do you mean supernaturally gifted?"

Laura held her hands parted before her chest and lightening passed from one hand to the other.

"Hmm, well isn't that shocking?" The hunter said with a half smile. "So what are you then, and the weapons I brought here will they even work against the things in here?"

"I'm a vampire, silly." She smiled then turned and looked at his weapons. "No, they won't you'll just make them mad."

"Well, that's just awesome." Dean said looking down, his voice thoughtful. "Is there anything that can hurt them?"

"Yes, the best warriors of the Brotherhood of Light were armed with a weapon called a combatcross. It's something like a retractable whip made out of a spiked chain. It also doubles as a grappling hook."

"Sounds like an interesting weapon."

"They are, it's specially made for killing supernatural creatures."

"What about the monsters outside?"

"Inside, outside. Gabriel used one when he fought Satan."

"Wait," Dean gawked. "The weapon hurt Satan? Nothing hurts Satan."

"Apparently the weapon does." Laura stood up and started rummaging through her shelves. "Fifty years ago when I was still dead a woman came in here wielding a combatcross. Because of Dracul's absence, a coven of witches had taken the castle as their own."

"You were dead?" The hunter watched her as she searched.

"Yes, but I got better." She said as if it were an everyday occurrence. "In fact the woman resurrected me. The demon that possesses this castle places locks where it sees fit to test would-be hunters. My resurrection was part of the key to opening the lock."

"Part of the key?"

"Yes." She said pulling the weapon and three amulets from her treasures and handing them to Dean. He looked first at the weapon, pulling out the spike chain and releasing it back to it's hiding place and then at the three amulets noting the different colored crystals adorning each one. The hunter pulled the amulet with the green crystals over his neck first followed by the red and ending with the blue and felt the strange alien energies flow through him.

"I found out about it later." Laura continued. "The key required three things, flesh, blood, and bones. She acquired the flesh from a group of ghouls living in a connecting room. Skeletons, from another connecting room, provided the bones. Finally, blood from her wrist finished the key."

"Why would resurrecting you be a key? Wouldn't an actual key be better?"

"Maybe," she said. "But I think the demon wanted me to kill her, or at least die trying. When I didn't fight her, the demon called some of its monsters to fight her. Frankenstein's monster came followed by a pack of ghouls. It was carrying a huge mallet the size of a man and the monster used it to smash its way through a wall and into the room."

"That's awesome! So… did she win?" the enthralled hunter asked. "Did she kill the ghouls and destroy Frankenstein?"

Laura looked away as she answered his question. "No, she was killed and the ghouls ate her. After they were done eating I came back and took her relics."

"Why?"

She sighed. "I don't know." Laura knew the answer; it was because the hunters were kind to her when no one else was. But she would never say and she would kill any of her hunter friends who discovered the truth.

Brightening, she looked up at Dean. "Now, how about we go try out your new toys on those mean old skeletons?"

An excited, almost childlike smile spread a crossed his face. "I was just about to suggest the same thing."

**New chapter- Yay! This is the "why is Laura alive?" chapter. Laura was my favorite in Lords of Shadow, because she was so creepy. She so desperately wanted a friend, but was too creepy to make one. I chose opium as the drug, because it's old school and I didn't think she would know about the others. I don't think medieval Europeans knew about pot. Just incase you're wondering there isn't a romance in this story. I just put Dean and Laura on the summary because they're the main characters. If you like Godzilla go to youtube and watch "Monster Island Buddies". I didn't do the series, but it's really funny.**


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